Telegraph readers get in touch

Charlotte Bath got in touch: "I broke both of my legs on a Friday the 13th 5 years ago!! Now Friday the 13th scares me! lol."

While William Spiers, who works in Beijing, has had more luck:

"I consider myself a lucky man, having reached the age of 13 on Friday the 13th and had a great time in my youth," he wrote. "In fact I have enjoyed eleven (including today) birthdays on Friday the 13th.

"Some of those may have been uneventful but never unenjoyable or unlucky.

"My 'superstition' is just to enjoy everyday, and luckily 13 is just a normal number here in China!!"

Bad things that have happened on Friday 13

A photo posted by Sidonie Hughes (@sidhelenasw) on May 13, 2016 at 3:06am PDT

In 1976, New Yorker Daz Baxter was apparently so afraid of Friday the 13th he decided the safest place to stay was his bed. However, Mr Baxter was killed when the floor of his apartment block collapsed that day.

In 2009, the £13.5m SAW ride at Thorpe Park had its opening premiere, only to be shut down due to a computer programming fault. Spooky.

During the early 1990s retired bus conductor Bob Renphrey also vowed to stay in bed on the superstitious day after some seriously bad luck. The Welshman has crashed fours cars, fallen into a river and been made redundant on previous Friday the 13ths.

Friday the 13th has a name

Paraskevidekatriaphobia - from the Greek words paraskeví (meaning 'Friday'), and dekatreís (meaning 'thirteen'). The fear of the number 13 itself is called triskaidekaphobia.

A numbers game

A photo posted by Marmalade (@marmaladesallys) on May 13, 2016 at 3:05am PDT

The number 13 has been considered unlucky for many years, even before Christ. The number 12 is historically considered the number of completeness, while its older cousin, 13, has been seen as an outlier.

There are 12 months of the year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, among many incidences of the pattern historically.

In many Western countries tall buildings are missing the 13th floor. In China the fourth floor and in some cases all floors with the number four are left out of Chinese buildings.

Houses often do not have a number 13, and many hotels, including the Carlton in London, miss out a thirteenth floor.

It is considered very unlucky for thirteen people to dine together, and the first to rise will reach serious misfortune - a superstition upheld by US President Roosevelt. He also refused to travel on Friday the 13th.

Paranoid Britons

In Somerset, it is said that whoever turns a bed on a Friday turns ships at sea. In Cumbria, babies born on a Friday were laid on the family Bible.

In some areas, calling a doctor for the first time on a Friday is a certain omen of death.

Cutting hair and nails on a Friday is a certain path to misfortune, and many couples will refrain from marrying on a Friday.

Dr Caroline Watt of the University of Edinburgh says that it is the belief in the Friday 13th superstition that could, in fact, prove the greatest risk to the average person:

“If people believe in the superstition of Friday the 13th then they believe they are in greater danger on that day. As a result they may be more anxious and distracted and this could lead to accidents. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

“It is like telling someone they are cursed. If they believe they are then they will worry, their blood pressure will go up and they put themselves at risk.”

Why Friday the 13th creates weird bargains - and how to take advantage

The number of property transactions decline on Friday 13. Research by FindaProperty.com found that between 2005 and 2012, there were 43pc less transactions on Friday 13 compared to other Fridays in the month.

The worst day was May 13 2011, when there were 51pc less transactions. Ironically, these transactions are likely to run more smoothly given that the staff handling them, in solicitors firms and banks, will have more time on their hands.

Property bargains are more likely to relate to houses or flats numbered 13. Number 13 houses are not that common – property website Zoopla found only 28pc of streets have one.

Weddings

Time to book a wedding? Credit:
Andrew Crowley

Ok, it's a bit late to book this year but doing so in 2016 (May 13 is the only one) could clip significant amounts of the average £24,000 cost.

According to data compiled by TheKnot.com, 1,345 fewer couples are getting married on Friday, 13 July 2017 compared to the following Friday.

For those not concerned about chandeliers crashing down or the chance of a jilting, wedding venue House For an Art Lover offers couples a 13pc discount if they get married on Friday 13.

The venue has been offering the marked-down marriages since 2013. It is currently taking bookings for unlucky days in 2017 – January 13 and October 13.

Why is Friday 13th considered unlucky?

Is Friday the 13th bad for business?

Over the last five years, the FTSE 100 has closed lower on eight of the 10 Friday 13ths. Today, the blue chip index looks to be heading in the same direction, sliding in early trading to a five-week low.

In a blog, Prince Harry said: "A half day on Friday and we get to the South Pole on Friday 13th - unlucky for some, lucky for us."

First nudist colony founded in UK

Britons were allowed to let it all hang out when the North Devon Club in Metherell opened on Friday 13 June, 1930. Hurrah?

Hollywood arrived

HollywoodCredit:
AFP

The Hollywood sign - which originally read HOLLYWOODLAND - was unveiled on Friday 13 July, 1923. It was built to advertise a housing development, but has since become one of the world's biggest tourist attractions.

Why is Friday the 13th unlucky?

Friday the 13th has long been regarded as an unlucky day. Why do we choose this day in particular to fear for our lives?

Biblical origins

The superstition around this day is thought to have come about during the Middle Ages, and may have Biblical origins.

Some historians have claimed it was the day on which Eve bit the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, the great flood began and the builders of the Tower of Babel.

In the New Testament there were 13 people present for Jesus's last supper on Maundy Thursday, the day before Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday.

More bad luck

One of the Knights TemplarCredit:
Getty

On Friday October 13th 1307 Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar.

In his novel Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown cites the 14th century execution of Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, which took place on Friday the 13th. He cursed the Pope and the King of France, and this spread misfortune down the ages.

It is also possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth played a part in disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous stock broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.